Pep Previews Plymouth

Oxford United head for Plymouth on Saturday with boss Pep Clotet looking for his side to get back to winning ways.

Defeat at home to Northampton last week means that United are three points outside the play-off places as they head for Home Park.

“We need to bounce back and get the three points on Saturday” Pep told iFollow this morning. “We are not happy to lose the game last Saturday but we have watched the game back with the players and we did much better than what we got. But unfortunately that’s the nature of this league. You never stop trying to improve but you have to keep in mind the points you have and how many you want at the end. Now we go to Plymouth, a good competitive game trying to get some points.

“Plymouth have done well in the last few games and have slowly adapted to the league but a very good result at Bradford should give them confidence and that will add to what should be a good game.”

United make the journey without Rob Hall, ruled out with a knee injury, and Curtis Nelson who will miss the rest of the season with an Achilles injury. The former Plymouth man will be a big loss, his Manager conceded:

“Curtis has an injury that we know will take time to heal but he is a good pro and we know he will do everything in his power to get back out there on the pitch. He will put in a lot of hours so he can be ready as soon as possible. We are doing everything we can to help him but it’s a big blow to us because he is a strong character as well. But it’s an opportunity now for some other players to prove their talent and I’m sure they will do well and we are going to keep on track.”

There was better news this week when defender Charlie Raglan stepped up his rehab and joined training for the first time since pre-season, while striker Gino van Kessel could be back in action next week

“That’s good news for us” Pep said. “Charlie is training with the team and we hope he will be back in a few weeks now. He is a very physical player and he is getting his fitness back and his confidence is getting much better now. Having him back will be a big help for us and we have other players coming back from injury too. Gino van Kessel is down to train fully next week and eventually we will get over this bad moment. We have been unfortunate to get so many injuries at the same time but that is the time when you need everyone to be focussed and united.”

See the full interview as well as chats with John Mousinho and Ricardinho in iFollow.